Who is Mahnoor Omer? Pakistani lawyer featured in TIME Magazine’s 2026 Women of Year list for 'anti-period tax'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Who is Mahnoor Omer? Pakistani lawyer featured in TIME Magazine’s 2026 Women of Year list for 'anti-period tax'")
Mahnoor Omer featured in TIME Magazine. Photograph: (Linkedin/@Mahnoor Omer)
Mahnoor Omer began her journey of empowering women at the age of 14 after establishing the Noor Foundation, an NGO, where she held workshops with village girls on climate change, along with menstruation.
Mahnoor Omer, a Pakistani activist, has been featured in TIME Magazine as one of 16 women leaders in its annual Women of the Year list. The 25-year-old has gained international prominence for her nearly decade-long work advocating for gender equity and challenging Pakistan's "period tax," a collection of duties and sales taxes on sanitary pads that can increase retail prices by up to 40 per cent.
Tax imposed by the Pakistan government on sanitary products makes them unaffordable for several poor women and girls, forcing use cloth, risking health impacts including rashes and infections. These issues often cause girls to drop out of school while menstruating, according to TIME Magazine.
What is backgrounds of Mahnoor Omer?
Mahnoor Omer was born in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad, hailing from a middle-class family. Her father is a businessman, and her mother is a homemaker. She began her journey of empowering women at the age of 14 after establishing the Noor Foundation, an NGO, where she held workshops with village girls on climate change, along with menstruation. At 16, she began distributing "dignity kits" containing pads and medication to low-income women.
This experience propelled Omer into activism, leading her to challenge the Pakistani government in court last year. In September 2025, she submitted a petition to the Lahore High Court seeking to have feminine hygiene products officially recognised as “essential goods” and to eliminate the 40 per cent tax added to their retail cost.
In her petition, Omer contended that imposing taxes on a biological necessity infringes upon Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which ensures equality and forbids discrimination based on sex. The case was first heard toward the end of 2025 and is currently pending a response from the government.
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A lawyer by qualification, Omer is currently pursuing her master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics. Before this, she completed her law degree with a University of London external from The Millennium Universal College (TMUC) in Pakistan, where she achieved distinctions and honours.
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